Agreed. JV rode him perfectly today, got him a little breather on the turn and didn't panic when Dunkirk ranged up quickly on him.

There are days when the track is souped up - times are lightning fast - and wide closers do very well throughout the card. Have an edge.

Just as there are days - like today in Dubai - when the track is very slow and tiring - times are slow - and the inside speed is at an extreme advantage.

Dunkirk labored over one of those slow tiring tracks in his debut at GP when he won in 1:25 and change.

A lot of times path and style biases seem to occur on funky weather days - and they said the winds were blowing at 25 MPH.

I think he's got a real good shot at being the betting favorite barring a freak injury. Not necessarily saying he's "my" favorite.

If I Want Revenge wins like he did in the Gotham, I think he's the favorite.

Looking at the flags it looked like a strong tailwind down the backstretch

I think it's very difficult to say who ran better today. A lack of speed is a problem at Gulfstream. They knew that going in. Fact is that Dunkirk was behind, and still is playing catch up quite well. Maybe they should just accept the fact that they started too late, and aim for one of the other 2 legs. This was a tough race for him. He made a big move on a speed favoring track. It's not just a problem of coming in 2nd. It's how much it took out of him to have to fight that bias.

He looked very tired and can't see them wheel him back. If they do and no matter what happens, no way he does well in the Derby. and if by ssome way he does win the Derby, they'll run the horse into the ground going after the TC.

If I want Revenge wins like he did in the Gotham, where does that rank this crop??

Holy Smokes

Yea, I think he is gunna need 6 weeks minimum(that's just a gut feeling.) Do they have that?

He's racing essentially the same field, doesn't mean the rest of the crop prepping on the other circuits are no good.

I do expect (hope for?) more out of Imperial Council though.

I Want Revenge could add to the heavy-hitters
 

we have a good crop this year.

possibly a very good one

pletcher said he complained to one of the top guys at the track about how they tinkered with the surface. referenced the fact it was the second track record today (big drama in the swale-stands even with the dq i guess), that if he had known they were going to mess with the track and produce a bias for front runners, he'd have gone to aqu next week instead. he seemed pretty ticked off-whether it's a legit beef, i don't know.

Exactly. Pletcher could have showed a little more class. Why didn't he run in the Wood to begin with??

probably because he thought he could win here. now, let's see if cooler heads prevail with the horse and future plans.

Good Point. Obviously Dunkirk has a load of talent. He just ran into a very tough horse today. I'd hate to see him miss the derby because of earnings, especially when he's arguably one of the top five three year olds.

I would imagine it's difficult when you lose, and they jam the mic in your face right away. It is hard to complain like that without looking like you're trying to take away from the winners performance. They would of been closer together. That's all you can really say. There were easier spots. For whatever reason, they chose this spot.

Good point.

I was having a discussion with a handicapper (Draynay) yesterday evening, and the topic of how fast the track was yesterday came up. With The Bonnie Miss going fast in spite of hard fractions, Dr. Pleasure equaling Quality Road's FOY time in an allowance, and the last race 18K claimers buzz sawing through a sub 1:16.

I feel bad for Pletch, but you can't take it away from Quality Road. If a 2nd in this truely top class race doesn't get you in, the blame isn't as much on the track as it is on circumstance.

i don't think anyone would react well when someone is basically asking 'how'd it feel to lose?'

Thinking Fischer is saying this is a special crop... and I agree.

Scuds on fire today.